San Mateo County Jane Doe (2004)
|postmortem interval = Years|body condition = Skeletal|age approximation = 65 - 80|height approximation = 5' 3|weight approximation = Unknown|cause of death = Undetermined}}San Mateo County Jane Doe was a female skeleton found inside a closet in California. The house belonged to a recluse named Douglas Fitzgerald. Discovery Douglas Fitzgerald died of lung cancer, alone in his Burlingame apartment at age 82, some days before his body was discovered by a neighbor on April 28. All neighbors knew about the reclusive man was that he had lived in the building for about 20 years, and he claimed in recent years that his wife had died about a decade ago. County authorities located one Fitzgerald relative living locally, a niece who had seen her uncle perhaps once in the past 30 years. As that niece and her daughter cleared Fitzgerald's apartment, the daughter opened a Samsonite-style suitcase, revealing skeletal remains bundled into plastic and paper bags. According to the forensic team, the skeleton belonged to a white woman, about 75 years of age and 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches tall. The left ribs had been injured but were fairly well healed at the time of death. The cause of death was not obvious, but the bones had apparently been buried for years before they were placed in the suitcase. Possible identity San Mateo County coroner's investigators theorized that the suitcase found in the late Douglas Fitzgerald closet might be the earthly remains of his long-vanished wife, Anne. Investigators released photographs of a woman whom they think is Anne Fitzgerald who died 10 years ago in hopes that someone will recognize her and help flesh out details of the couple's hazy past. The photographs were found in Fitzgerald's apartment. But a positive identification has so far eluded county officials, who say the couple left few documentary traces despite long lives, and that leads in the case have nearly petered out. How she died is also a mystery. A friend of Douglas Fitzgerald said that he was very private about his personal life and did not divulge much about it to neighbors and family though he once said that he has 2 sons with Anne who both lived somewhere on the East Coast. The identity and exact whereabouts of the supposed sons are unknown. Officials have been unable to find a birth and death certificate for Anne Fitzgerald in either California or Nevada. They have also been unable to locate complete medical or dental records,none that can confirm her identity or next of kin. Despite the clues, officials can't say for sure if the bones in the suitcase or the photographs found in Fitzgerald's apartment are those of Anne Fitzgerald. Gallery Anne Rangely Fitzgerald2.jpg Annie Rangeley Morris1.jpg Links * San Mateo County Jane Doe at NamUs * SFGate * EastbayTimes Category:White Category:Female Category:Skeletal Category:Elderly Category:People found in California Category:Cases over 10 years old Category:2004 discoveries Category:1920s births Category:1930s births Category:Suspicious deaths Category:Middle age Category:No reconstruction Category:Unidentified photograph subjects